From the team:

Buffalo Sabres General Manager Darcy Regier today announced that Thomas Vanek fractured his jaw when he was hit in the face with a puck during last night's game vs. Ottawa. Vanek had successful surgery on his jaw today in Buffalo, and will be sidelined for at least 3-4 weeks.

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Totally fluke incident last night. Anton Volchenkov took a shot from the point, and Vanek was no more than 10 feet away. The puck was rolling as Volchenkov teed up, and Vanek never had a chance.

I guess it's time to see what the Sabres are really made of, losing the NHL's 3rd leading goal scorer.

Inspired by the escrow post over on the Big Board, I took a look at the link provided by James in the comment section to gain some additional insight into pieces of the CBA that I may not have been previously aware of. Lo and behold, I found something that was particularly relevant. There has been a lot of controversy regarding UFA's that take a lot of time to make their playing decision (I'm looking at you, Mats Sundin) and whether there should be a rule in place that discourages the chess game and drama that inevitably follows.

Some may argue that this is their right as UFA's (which I don't disagree with), but then I saw this:

Restricted free agents must sign NHL contracts by December 1, or they are not eligible to play for the rest of the season.

There is a rule for RFA's, but not UFA's? I'm going to assume that this was a "new CBA" clause, as I remember several RFA's (being a Buffalo fan, Michael Peca being very prominent) holding out well past that date. Now, were the owners that short sighted to not include this for UFA's as well, or would the players have made such a stink over it (which in my mind is a very valid one) that they agreed it was just going to be for RFA's.

Something tells me the owners missed their chance the first time and none of the Sundin drama could have happened.

The Sabres picked up a bench minor for abuse of officials during last night's game with the Penguins, resulting in the second extended 5-on-3 penalty kill of the game for the Sabres, but it wasn't immediately clear why.

From today's Buffalo News....

The Buffalo goaltender revealed he was telling his coach that one of the officials swore at him during a stoppage in play a couple of minutes before the Sabres received a bench minor for arguing an interference call on Thomas Vanek.

"It was just about the referee last night, a brief conversation I had with the ref that was a little surprising to me," Miller said. "He told me to "go [bleep] myself' because I was just asking a question. I was just kind of joking around [to Ruff], saying, "Maybe that kind of started what got the bench minor going.'

"To be honest, I was respectful. I asked him a question and he told me maybe I should "go [bleep] myself."

If this is true, it's only going to enhance the conspiracy theorists out there that believe the NHL has it in for any team that is not the Pittsburgh Penguins.